Category Archives: Uh oh

It gives me no pleasure – in fact – it saddens me greatly to have to criticize my Pope but he gives me no choice with his latest utterings. I am through holding my tongue. It is clear to me that Pope Francis lacks the intellectual heft of our last two excellent popes.

Asked by a French reporter to compare freedom of religion and freedom of expression as human rights, Pope Francis linked his answer to the Jan. 7 attacks at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, apparently in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons mocking Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

“Let’s go to Paris, let’s speak clearly,” the pope said. “One cannot offend, make war, kill in the name of one’s own religion, that is, in the name of God.”

So far, so good…but this would be an obvious thing for a pope to say.

The pope said freedom of expression was a “fundamental human right” like freedom of religion, but one that must be exercised “without giving offense.”

Offering a hypothetical example that referred to the Vatican’s planner of papal trips, who was standing beside him as he spoke, the pope said: “It’s true, one cannot react violently, but if Dr. (Alberto) Gasbarri, a great friend, says a swear word against my mother, then he is going to get a punch. But it’s normal, it’s normal.One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.”

No, it’s not “normal.” The individual moved to violence over an insult has lost control, and that’s unacceptable. It is unequivocally wrong to hit someone in the face regardless of the circumstances that led to that outburst, which is a lesson that parents around the world teach their children every day. Good luck now, mom and dad. When even the Pope says it’s “normal” to go on a violent rampage because your feelings were hurt, those opposed to this uncivilized behavior have lost the ability to appeal to moral authority.

When broadcasters effusively praise the bravery of the Charlie Hebdo journalists but refuse to show the work they are praising for fear of retribution from either extremists or attorneys; when the head of the Catholic Church can find some sensibleness in religious violence; when those who speak their minds are imprisoned for doing so, you know that Europe is on the verge of a new dark age.

Somebody is going to come up with a more nuanced translation for what he said, but I’m sick of the “bad translation” excuse. We didn’t have this problem with the last two popes. What is wrong with this man?!

Whether he’s talking about economics, social issues, immigration, Islam, or the obviously fraudulent “climate change” hysteria – this pope has both feet planted firmly in the world. He seems to care too much about worldly opinions and gravitates toward left-wing solutions.. Worst of all, on many issues, he appears to be an ally of our current president. Proof positive that something is very very wrong…

That was apparent to me early on when he made a big show of eschewing the popemobile and his lavish Papal accommodations in favor of a more humble mode of transportation and personal abode. I was looking at his “open sided” popemobile in the Philippines. It looks more expensive than the old one. But then, I never cared about any of that. I think the pope should be kept safe. His acclaimed “modesty” always looked like moral preening to me.

A good Catholic lives IN the world – but is not OF the world. We will always be in conflict with worldly opinions. But that’s okay. The eternal TRUTH is what matters.

The problem with Pope Francis is he seems to be wrong about a lot of important stuff and that’s a terrible thing for a Catholic to have to say about a pope. I want to be wrong about this. I truly do.

Amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, the North Korean government told foreign governments to leave South Korean territory for their safety. Today, Kim Jong Un’s government may launch missiles in a provocative test. Gaffney points out that Obama’s actions and rhetoric toward American nuclear disarmament is dangerous, and has contributed to North Korea’s aggressiveness. In addition, what’s the possibility of North Korea’s use of Electromagnetic Pulse attack?

Gaffney noted that one of the things he was most concerned about was the missile the Norks launched back in December that put a small satellite up into space and has a track that’s going to put it over the United States over the next week. This satellite, Gaffney worried, could be an EMP weapon, acquired from Russia, that they could decide to detonate over the United States’ electrical grid.

Most of us have seen the attack on Steven Crowder by the union thug.This video shows the guy approaching Crowder about an hour before the punch while he was debating pro-union protesters in front of the tent. According to eye witness, Thomas La Duke of FTR Radio, this video provides strong evidence that the guy was looking for a fight…

Go to 1:57 to 3:30: (Language warning):

La Duke: “Note to MSM or anyone else. This is UNEDITED video so try to keep that spin to a minimum.”

Like this:

Zero Hedge: “if you’re not preparing for mega-inflation already, you need to start doing so NOW. The Fed WILL continue to pump money into the system 24/7 and it’s going to result in the death of the US Dollar.”

In case you missed it, earlier this week China announced that its foreign currency reserves are excessive and that they need to return to “reasonable” levels.

In politician speak, this is a clear, “we are sick of the US Dollar and will be taking steps to lower our holdings.” Remember, the US Dollar is China’s largest single holding. And China has already begun dumping Treasuries (US Debt).

This comes on the heels of China deciding (along with Russia) to trade in their own currencies, NOT the US Dollar. Not to mention the numerous warnings Chinese politicians have been issuing to the US over the last 24 months.

In simple terms, China is done playing nice and is now actively moving out of US Dollar denominated assets. This is the beginning of the US Dollar’s end as world reserve currency.

Remember, the Republicans are the radical ones for trying to put us on a sound, fiscal path. Sensible pols don’t want to endanger our booming recovery by reining in spending. The answer to all of our fiscal problems is “tax the rich”.

Obama’s ever-changing proposals, allegedly designed to tackle the problem, simply could not work. One of the following must be true: He doesn’t agree that the crisis is grave, doesn’t understand that his policies can’t work, doesn’t have the same vision about America as most of us, or doesn’t intend for his policies to work. Some people believe he’s intentionally damaging America, because they believe he’s too smart not to know that we face a crisis and that his policies can’t work.

I don’t pretend to comprehend the inner child of his past that apparently impels him to pursue this current path of destruction. My educated guess is that his leftist ideology blinds him to the inefficacy of failed liberal prescriptions but also that this same ideology tells him that if things don’t get appreciably better, then that’s OK, too, because America’s had more than its fair share of prosperity anyway.